Changing Tides
by Gemmi92
Summary: "I've known you for six years, Erik," she whispered as she watched him intently. "How well do I know you?" Erik said nothing for a few moments before he looked away. "Not as well as you think." Erik/OC
1. Chapter 1

"You cannot keep thinking that this is okay."

He knew the usual conversation they had. They had it every time he came to visit her, but she never complained then. She would only complain the following morning when he started to dress again. He would have suspected that she had grown immune to what they did, but she never had done. She always moaned and he always placated her somehow. He didn't know how he did it, but he did.

"Why?" he asked back from her. "Unless you have some boyfriend I don't know about?"

She shifted in the bed uncomfortably, pulling the white sheet up to her neck as she hid underneath it. She shook her head slowly and pushed a free hand through her dark blonde hair whilst he pulled his trousers over his legs.

"You know I don't," she replied to him. "I tried dating but I never found anyone...and then you keep randomly showing up..."

"We agreed to what our relationship is," he reminded her, hunting around her small bedroom for his shirt. He finally found it by the side of the bed and he knelt on the floor to pick it up as she looked down to him and arched a condescending brow.

"And if I want more?" she demanded from him.

He pushed his arms into the purple shirt and nodded. "Then you can look for more, but I am not the man to give you more, Annalise."

"That's unfair," she wailed before lying back on the bed and staring to the ceiling. "How can you keep coming here and sleep with me but claim you don't want anything else."

"You let me keep coming," he reminded her. "And I told you that I have other priorities right now. Settling down does not interest me."

"Who says it interests me?" she demanded from him as he sat on the edge of the bed and buttoned his shirt up his chest. "I don't want to settle down with a family and a house, but I do want some stability. I can't keep going to work and coming home whilst thinking about you all the time. Do you know how needy I sound?"

He grinned down to his lap and she slapped him across the arm as he chuckled. He turned back to look at her as she glowered and pouted her thin lips.

"Do you take anything seriously, Erik?" she demanded from him. "I've known you for years now but I don't know how much longer I can keep doing this."

"Falling for me already?" he teased her and he watched as her cheeks flushed red. "Anna, if you want to move on then just say so. Tell me definitively and I will go."

She bit the inside of her cheek before sitting up and looking to him, her front pressing against his side as he moved his hand to her neck. His fingers danced across the pale skin there and she inhaled a sharp breath. She wrapped both of her arms around one of his and he wondered what he was doing. He should never be so close to a woman when he had things to do. Usually he upped and left without such sentiment, but he had a feeling today would be different.

"You know I don't want to tell you that," she whispered in a soft voice. "But I...I think it is for the best this time, Erik. Being with you isn't healthy for me and it isn't healthy for you either."

"You told me my entire lifestyle isn't healthy," Erik scoffed and she nodded sternly.

"Chasing after Nazis isn't healthy," she informed him. "I do worry about what will happen to you, especially if you do find him. After what he did, I know he isn't someone to trifle with."

"I have no intention of trifling with him," Erik said, his voice back to that serious tone she had grown accustomed to. "I intend to kill him, Anna."

"I imagine he has no intention of letting you," she contradicted. "I cannot stop you. I never have been able to, but I don't want to spend the rest of my life worrying about you when you have no intention of doing anything but sleep with me."

"You say this all the time," Erik reminded her and looked at her condescendingly.

He moved his nose against hers, tilting her head so that he could quickly kiss her. He moved his hand to her waist and held her steadily against his body as he deepened the kiss and she moaned against him. This was the usual way Erik placated her. He could keep her quiet so long as his lips worked against hers. It was a skill he had.

"No," Annalise suddenly declared as she forced her lips from his. "I'm serious this time, Erik."

Erik sighed and his head drooped, his gaze set on her chest as she stared at him, wondering if he would change his mind. She hoped he would. She longed for him to say something to her. She wanted him to promise her that he would stop; he would stop and he would stay with her. She was well aware that would never happen. Erik Lensherr was his own man.

But it would never happen.

He was hell bent on revenge and that was all there was to it.

She knew where she ranked. She always had known, but that didn't make it any easier. It made it much more difficult if she had to be honest.

"Do what you need to do and stay safe, but don't come back if you only want a one night stand," Annalise demanded from him. "You may be able to separate your feelings from sex, but I'm slowly struggling to do just that."

"I see."

"Do you?" Annalise continued to pressure him. "You walked into my life when I was twenty and look where we are five years later? We haven't moved on at all. I'm still a receptionist and you're still on your crazy mission."

"It feels like a breakup," Erik commented, "but we were never really together."

"Got it in one," Annalise whispered, "and that's where the issue lies."

Erik stood up and grabbed his tie from the chair it rested over. He draped it over his neck and tossed his suit jacket over his shoulder. He sat back down to place his shoes on and Annalise continued to stare at him with wide eyes. Would he look back to her and tell her he wanted more? Would he bother? Annalise continued to chew her bottom lip whilst Erik finished lacing his shoes up.

"I guess this a goodbye," Erik mused.

"It looks like it," Annalise whispered back and bent down to place her straight hair behind her shoulder, kissing her on the forehead.

"Look after yourself, Anna," he demanded from her.

"You too, Erik."

Annalise listened to the soft click of the door and she rested against the headboard, closing her eyes and feeling her eyes water. She moved her hands to her orbs to wipe away the moisture pooled there. Only then did she rest on her side and beg for sleep to find her again.

...

A/N: So I'm back with another Erik/OC! Please do let me know what you think so far!


	2. Chapter 2

Annalise tried to date. She spent nights sat at tables with men in various restaurants. She laughed, joked and even told them some aspects of her childhood, but one date never led to the next. She didn't know why she couldn't move on. Erik Lensherr had gone. He had waltzed out of her life and he had told her that he would not come back.

So why did she spend her nights sat at home in her apartment, waiting for him to walk through the door?

She didn't know, but she did know that she was being pathetic. What kind of a woman sat around and waited for a man? Apparently she did.

It was late at night when she finished work one evening, tidying up the notes she had been sent from her boss who was preparing for a speech at an event. She walked out the door with her satchel swinging against her hip before she made her way to her local bar.

She knew what her parents would say if they could see her ordering a small glass of brandy. A bar was no place for a woman to go and sit. They would be so disappointed with her if they knew she had been sleeping with a man she had no intention of marrying. Her parents were old fashioned and desperate for her to settle down.

Unfortunately she had yet to do just that.

The bar she sat in was quiet for a Monday night. The lights were dimmed low and there were only a couple of businessmen in suits sat drinking that night. Annalise perched at the bar, holding her drink lightly in her fingertips as she recalled how she had met Erik.

"Is anyone sitting here?"

Annalise looked up and across to a man who stood before her. He looked to be in his early forties and was impeccably dressed in a black suit with a contrasting red tie against his white shirt. Annalise shook her head as the man flashed a pearly white smile and his brown hair bounced on top of his head as he slid onto the stool.

"Sorry to interrupt," he said, his American accent shining through as he did so. "It was just that I noticed you sat here alone and I thought I'd come and see if you wanted a drink. Call me a tourist, but I don't like drinking alone."

"That's...awfully nice of you," Annalise decided to say, "but I have a drink. Thank you for the offer though!"

It took a moment for him to laugh at her and he looked sheepish as he did so. "Am I interrupting something?" he worried. "Are you waiting around for your boyfriend and I've-"

"-Oh God no," she shook her head with haste at him, almost spitting out her drink as she sipped on it. "It is nothing like that! I don't have a boyfriend or a husband."

"Really?" he asked of her, gesturing to her with his hand. "I would have thought a good looking gal like you would have had someone."

"No," she shook her head. "I really don't...well...I did...I mean I haven't been a spinster all my life...it's just...he left last week."

She knew she was babbling and she knew she must have looked pathetic to him, but what else could she do? He had asked if she had a boyfriend and her mind had gone back to Erik. She doubted he was perfect boyfriend material, but no one was perfect. Erik definitely wasn't. The first time she had met him had been when he was stood over the body of a corpse. They really had come a long way since that incident.

"Oh," the man replied. "I am sorry to hear that."

"You and me both," Annalise scoffed. "Anyway, I doubt you want to hear about my failed relationships. What are you doing here? You said you were a tourist."

"I am," he nodded to her. "I'm from New York, but I have an aunt who loves here in London so I thought I'd come and visit her. I would be with her right now, but she is currently out with some friends. You travel over the pond and end up having to entertain yourself, right?"

Annalise gave him a soft smile and sipped on her alcohol again before the man ordered himself a drink. It took a moment for him to glance back to her, that wide smile still occupying his face as he did so.

"So you live in London?" he asked of her.

"Born and bred," she confirmed for him. "I work at an insurance company as a secretary and have a flat just outside of Farringdon. That is basically my life in a nutshell."

"Simplistic," he nodded to her. "It sounds much better than leading a complicated life. Believe me, some women I involve myself with are nothing but trouble and it becomes tiresome."

"Exactly," Annalise suddenly exclaimed, her mind going back to Erik as she tried to shake him from her vision. "I just can't deal with anything that isn't simple. I don't want to deal with it either. Why would anyone?"

"I do not know," the man responded softly to her. "Anyway, I'm only here for a week or so and then it is back to the States."

"And what is it you do over there?" Annalise enquired, trying to be polite to the man.

Why should she not converse with him? He seemed like a genuinely nice person and it was clear he was too old for her to consider...well...doing anything with.

"I own a club," he said. "Don't worry; nothing seedy, just a club in Vegas that makes me enough money. I've had it for a few years now. I never knew what I should have invested in, but running the club seems to be working well for me. I think it takes a few years before you truly know what it is you want to do with your life."

"I hope so," Annalise agreed. "I don't want to spend the rest of my days as a receptionist."

"And what is it you want to do?"

"I don't know," she admitted. "I've often thought about going into finance. That sounds dull, but I really do love numbers and maths. Anyway, it's just a dream, isn't it? I actually need to do something first."

"I think if you want something so badly then you'll find it," he nodded thoughtfully to her. "That's inevitable."

"I hope so," Annalise said and she slipped from the stool she sat on. "Anyway, I should get going. I have work in the morning and I need to finish off some paperwork at home. It was a pleasure meeting you."

"The pleasure was all mine," he promised her, "but I never caught your name."

"Annalise Barton," she offered him her hand and he took it, his fingers engulfing hers as he moved their entwined limbs up and down.

"Sebastian Shaw," he responded. "Perhaps I may see you in here another night?"

Annalise laughed and adjusted her satchel on her shoulder and draped her beige coloured mac over her arm as she walked backwards and away from Sebastian.

"I'm in here most nights," she shrugged to him. "Maybe I will see you again."

...

A/N: Thanks to everyone reading and do let me know what you think!


	3. Chapter 3

Annalise didn't know much about Sebastian Shaw. She didn't entirely understand why he kept on bumping into her at the bar. She also didn't know why she kept on attending the bar he went to. She didn't know how to act around him without appearing incoherent. Sebastian was a very clever individual and she felt foolish whenever she was around him.

She said the wrong thing or she said something he didn't understand. But he always humoured her, even when she was moaning about how all of her past relationships had failed miserably. He had asked her about them, but she scarcely want to divulge information on the matter, regardless of how much she was missing Erik.

She cursed the day she had ever met him. She cursed the day she had seen him. She had met him over a dead body, for heaven's sake. That was scarcely normal. Why should she think any differently? Their relationship had been nothing but toxic from the moment she decided not to call the police and let him get away with murder.

"You had to go and do it," Annalise muttered as she perched on the edge of her bed.

Sebastian Shaw had returned to the USA after concluding his business trip. Annalise had been to a bar with him and a restaurant, but she was almost relieved when he told her that he would be leaving. She didn't want to sound rude or ungrateful, but he was unnerving. He looked at her with such intensity that it caused her to turn away and wonder what was running through her mind. Of course, Erik used to look at her like that, but she had always demanded to hear his worries or she had stared at him until he either kissed her or complained. She had never hid from Erik.

Her flat was quiet and the noise outside was non-existent. She moved slowly through the small space, tidying her work clothes into her wardrobe and moving clothes around. It was only then when she swore that she heard a noise from her living room.

She closed the wardrobe and peered around her door, almost jumping out of her skin at the sight she saw there. She screamed loudly and placed a hand over her mouth, the motion taking hold of her before she could stop it. She stomped one foot before he moved over to her, his hands resting on her shoulders and moving down her upper arms.

Pushing her hands, she moved her own to his shoulders and looked down to the ground, unable to look him in the eye as she caught her breath.

"Thank God you're safe," he whispered to her and she took a moment to breathe deeply, inhaling sharply as she did so. "Do you have any idea how worried I have been about you? Do you know what has happened?"

"What are you talking about?" Annalise whispered, peering up to him again as her blonde hair fell in front of her face. "You left, Erik. You left and you said you wouldn't come back."

"And I wouldn't have," Erik promised her, "but I found out that he had been with you."

Annalise didn't know what he was talking of, but his first sentence stung the most. He hadn't come back because he wanted to. He hadn't returned because he realised that he loved her. None of those things had crossed his mind. He had come back because he had to; for what reason, Annalise did not know.

"Who?" she managed to ask him.

"Schmidt," Erik growled his name lowly. "I found him, Annalise. I found him and he said that he had found something of mine...something he could hurt...would hurt if he had to..."

"Erik," Annalise groaned his name, "I haven't met anyone called Schmidt. Do you not think I would have known if I had? I haven't met anyone, but I'm doing fine in case you were wondering. I doubt you were, but maybe a part of you cared."

"He doesn't go by Schmidt anymore," Erik clarified for her. "He changed his name to Sebastian Shaw."

Erik watched how Annalise paled slowly, her gaze avoiding his and her hands releasing his arms. She moved away from him and dropped her hands to her hips. Walking through her living room, she flicked the light switch on so that the room was fully illuminated. She had sat with the man who had murdered Erik's mother. She had laughed at his jokes. She had let him buy her dinner.

It took her a second to turn her head over her shoulder to look back to Erik and she felt tears well up in her orbs. Why did she feel so guilty? She didn't know who Sebastian was. She didn't know what he had done. Erik had left her and he had gone.

"Are you crying?" Erik asked of her.

"I'm so sorry," Anna whispered and Erik's brow furrowed. "I didn't know...I never knew..."

"I know," Erik assured her, still holding a look of confusion on his face as she continued to worry over what she had done. "Anna, what is it?"

"Nothing," she shook her head. "It's just that I had dinner with him...and...we talked...but he said..."

"Annalise," Erik snapped her name and finally managed to wrap his arms around her waist. "I don't blame you for this. You know that. You had no idea who he was or what his intentions were."

"But I was so pathetic," she muttered to Erik and kept her arms folded over her chest tightly. "I...you'd gone...and I was desperate for someone else...someone for company..."

Erik hesitated for a second, his grip increasing on her as he allowed her words to sink in. She looked to him and Erik's jaw tightened and that harsh gaze she had grown to know formed on his face. He shook her and bent down to her height, his face brushing against hers.

"Did you sleep with him?" he demanded from her.

Shock and annoyance formed on her face and she shook her head. "Of course not! I wouldn't sleep with him! I barely know him! Why would you suggest that?"

"You were talking about looking for company," Erik muttered, his grip slackening and his forehead resting against hers.

Why was he bothered? Erik had agreed to leave Annalise alone. He had promised her that he would walk out of her life and not come back. He had assured her that he would let her move on. Now he was back. She was at liberty to sleep with who she wanted, but he couldn't cope if she slept with Shaw. He didn't know if he liked the thought of anyone else having her either.

"Do you think that I could move on so quickly?" she whispered. "I tried, but I can't."

Erik almost replied to her, but he shook his head. That was a conversation for another day. All that mattered now was taking her somewhere safe where Shaw couldn't hurt her. Erik didn't know if he had any intention to harm her, but he had a feeling that Shaw was a man of his word, even after all those years.

"What matters is that you're safe," Erik muttered and he moved his finger underneath her chin, tilting her head up so that he could look her in the eye. "I need you to come with me, Anna. Shaw is more dangerous than I had thought and he is plotting."

"What?" Annalise wondered. "Why do you think he would hurt me? We're not together, Erik. There is nothing happening between us."

"And do you think that it wouldn't hurt _me _if he took you away?" Erik demanded from her. "I may not want to put a ring on your finger, Anna, but I do care for you. You're the only woman I've grown close to and Shaw would use that against me."

"And what about what I want?" Anna asked of him.

"Do you not want to stay safe?" Erik quickly retorted.

"Of course," she replied, "but I think Shaw has overestimated my importance."

"That isn't important!" Erik snapped at her, releasing her from his hold and moving through the living room, his hands running through his hair hastily. "Whether he has overestimated it or not, he still threatened to come for you. Did you think that I wanted come back for you?"

"We agreed not to see each other again-"

"-But this is your life, Anna!" Erik exclaimed to her and he flapped his arms by his side, annoyance taking hold of him at her moaning.

"My life which you cannot keep waltzing into," she muttered, sensing that Erik wasn't in the mood for her to continue discussing that issue with him. "But fine, how did you meet him? And what has happened?"

Erik seemed to calm down as Annalise settled down on the sofa, leaning forwards and clasping her hands together. Perching on the arm of the sofa, Erik moved his hand to her shoulder, wondering if he could offer her some sense of support. He hoped he could.

"I tracked him down to his yacht after visiting Argentina where he owns a villa. I found him and he told me that he had been with you for the past week. I didn't believe him to begin with. I thought that he was lying...but he knew what you looked like...he knew what perfume you wear...your favourite black dress with the white collar...how you chewed on your straw when you're nervous...just everything, Anna," Erik whispered to her and she gulped lowly.

She moved her hand upwards, resting it on top of Erik's which sat on her shoulder. She said nothing as she felt Erik's fingers wrap into hers and she contemplated what it was that Shaw intended to do.

"I tried to follow Shaw, but the CIA wants him. They think he is planning something with the Soviet Union and they want to find out what that it...I met other people...like me...a telepath..."

"What?" Annalise asked, moving on the sofa to sit on her knees as she stared at Erik with her wide eyes. "You're not alone?"

"No," Erik said, almost in a tone of disbelief. "There are others, Annalise. They are back in America, but I came here to find you. I need you to come there with me."

"I can't," Annalise complained to him. "I can't just leave. I have a job here-"

"-Anna," Erik interrupted, the warning tone to his voice back once again. "Your life is all that matters. You will come with me and I will keep you safe. Do you understand?"

"Do I have any other option?" Annalise quickly asked and Erik smirked.

He picked her hand up and pressed his lips to her knuckles as she dropped her head to rest against his leather jacket clad arm. Erik said nothing as she made the motion and he knew full well that he had won this argument with her. It was very rare for Erik to win an argument with Annalise. He remembered he often gave in and let her think that she was right. It was easier. But not this time. This time Erik would not leave her flat without her.

"Not this time," Erik spoke. "This is for the best, Anna. You have to believe me. All I want is to keep you safe."

"I know," Annalise promised, her head drooping slightly as Erik slid down the sofa to settle beside her, his arm wrapping around her shoulders. "You're not a bad person, Erik, I know that...and I know you try to do the right thing..."

"I am so glad you think so," Erik said; a slim smirk on his face and Annalise smacked his chest.

"You know what I'm talking about," she complained to him. "But it looks like I'll be spending a lot more time with you."

"Wearing clothes and outside of the bedroom," Erik clarified and Annalise laughed and hit his chest once more. Erik caught her wrist and she nestled closer to him.

Erik struggled to believe how he felt at that moment in time. He had killed people. He had murdered men without any second thought, but there he was making sure he was caring for Annalise. There was a vast difference between them. He didn't know he felt about that. Annalise didn't think he was a monster. She thought he was good. She thought he was something more than the cold blooded killer he really was. Erik didn't know if he hoped that she was right.

He just knew that he would do all that he could to stop Shaw from hurting the one thing he actually cared for.


End file.
